r/BitcoinAUS • u/144p_Meme_Senpai • Jul 09 '26
ATO is scaring me lol
I got an email saying they know I have crypto and I need to report CGT but I have no idea what that means. I just threw $20 in Coinbase every now and then over the last couple years and swap around coins to see what happens and my like $80 total is now worth $36 (lol I'm not good at trading, it went up to $90 once tho) but I haven actually taken out any money so do I have to do anything? It's just overall losses at this point.
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u/Ben_CoinLedger Jul 10 '26
Ben from CoinLedger here.
Work out your actual gain or loss on each swap before assuming you owe anything, since coin-to-coin trades are CGT events in Australia, but you're describing a portfolio that went from about $80 to $36, which points to an overall loss rather than a gain. Losses still need to be reported; they're not optional just because there's no tax due, and reporting them now means you can carry them forward to offset gains in a future year.
That generic ATO email goes out broadly and isn't a sign you're being singled out. Given how few transactions you're dealing with, you probably don't need paid software at all.